Studies on the thermal degradation of acrylic polymers by simultaneous autostep TG/DTA

Simultaneous autostep technique, a novel methodology in thermal analysis, was employed for the investigation of multiple stage degradation of acrylic polymers in thermogravimetric (TG) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) methods. Heating of the sample was controlled automatically with respect to the rate of mass loss in each degradation step in addition to the control of heating by a given steady heating rate. Three standard samples (polymethyl acrylate, polymethyl methacrylate, and polystyrene) and a newly synthesized polymer (polycinnamoyloxy-ethyl methacrylate) were taken to study the advantages of this technique for the better understanding of thermal degradation of polymers involving a multiple stage decomposition pattern over the conventional method. Results from this method revealed information about the degradation of acrylic polymers in a more precise and accurate manner and were compared with those of the conventional method.